Week of October 24, 2016: Final Galaxy paintings and a Clipart product!

Hello my friend, and Happy Hallowe'en!!

This past week has been just nuts for me and mine, what with preparing for Hallowe'en, finishing my galaxy series paintings, and my new job! But we made it to the other side without too many casualties so I call that a win. I have a few accomplishments to show you from this week, I made up 3 more galaxy paintings in the Fall/Hallowe'en theme, and I finished setting up my first clipart product and it is now available in my Etsy store!!

Galaxy Paintings:

I finished three more galaxy/nebula paintings which completes the series I think. For each one I tried to push myself and the image just a little more to see where this style could go. Quite a number of the six images received more attention than I expected, the maple leaf especially, so I might have to see about getting them up as products on Etsy. In fact I've already got a buyer for three of the originals (Yay!!)!

A galaxy bat. I really liked the idea of a night creature encompassing the night sky in its body. So cool.

A galaxy maple leaf. This goes more along with the fall theme and I wanted to give this image a more 3D element by adding a shadow. The galaxy/nebula also has a few extra elements. This was a very popular image in my Facebook group!

A galaxy crow. I tried to make this a scary looking crow but that's a bit difficult when you're working in silhouette, and the galaxy/nebula I chose is much larger than previous ones, with a lot more colour. There's so much more going on in this image than in the previous ones.

New Clipart Product on Etsy:

As promised I now have my first clipart product available in my Etsy store! These are the images that you will download instantly upon purchase. Click this link for more details.

Baby elephants clipart set available now in my Etsy store!

While you're in my store feel free to take a look at the few products I have available right now, but also please favourite my shop and share the love!

Coming Up:

This week I have a new challenge: I signed up for a 6 week online course through Newcastle University in Australia titled "Drawing Nature, Science and Culture: Natural History Illustration 101" and it starts this week. I'm very excited to take this course as it will be my first introduction to science illustration. I've done plenty of scientific drawings in my Biology courses but they were for lab purposes, I'm curious to see how different these will be from my experience. And of course I will be sharing what I do with you here and through my social media channels.

I think that's everything I have to share this week. I hope your Hallowe'en is safe and full of fun and laughter!

Until next time,

Mandy

If you'd like to see more of my work or keep up with me day-to-day you can follow me on Instagram or Facebook.

If you're interested in commissioning me, click here to be taken to my Contact page to send me an email or message me from my social media links above, I'd be happy to answer any questions :)

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Week of October 17, 2016: Galaxies and A New Job

Hello my friend, lovely to see you again! I trust that you are reasonably well and that life is at the very least tolerable for you. This past week has been a little harder for me than usual and I expect the next several months to be drastically different than the last year or so. Why? Well, with the Christmas season looming and my sales not being what I need them to be, I decided to take on the extra challenge of a part-time job. There are advantages and disadvantages to this decision and I will talk about that more a little later in the post. As far as my artistic endeavours are concerned, this week I tried something new - I've started painting a series of fall/Hallowe'en silhouette galaxies!

A New Series:

If you've been following me on Instagram or Facebook you will have seen these already, but bear with me and I'll add some more information here. Last week I was challenged to try some Hallowe'en style illustrations, you know, what with it being October and all. I've been hesitant to do anything in this genre because honestly I was having trouble coming up with something unique that fit the theme. I don't do scary or creepy and everything I could think up that was cute just seemed to fall flat. Then I had this idea: I've been wanting to paint nebulas or galaxies in watercolour. I'd seen quite a few of these done in a circle format and thought they were cool. Then I thought, why not make the format a silhouette of a Hallowe'en figure instead, and boom, instant idea!!

So, here's what I've done so far with this idea:

Galaxy Cat. I used a drawing of a black cat and I really wanted the eyes to stand out so
it seemed like the cat was a window into space. As if, when the cat moved, you would see different parts of space.

Witch's Hat. This I felt was a bit more obvious and more of a play on a wizard's hat
which usually has stars and moons on it - this has a whole galaxy!

Galaxy Jack-o-lantern. Usually the eyes and mouth are cut out of a pumpkin to make the
Jack-o-lantern, but here, the whole pumpkin has been cut out to
reveal... space!

These little paintings were a lot of fun to make and I got to use some supplies that I haven't used in a while, like my masking fluid and paints! I have a few more ideas to do this week before I completely quit this theme, but I've really enjoyed making these!

A New Challenge:

Okay, so down to this new job I have. It's actually really cool because I am working at a craft store (craft and art supplies!!!) so there's all the positives of that, plus the extra income which we are in need of this time of year. As well, it will get me out of the house and interacting with people a little more which I admit is one of the downfalls of working from home. The obvious negative is that I will mostly be working when my girls are in school, which is normally when I would be doing my artwork, so naturally there will be less time for that. However, I have wondered if maybe I don't schedule my time as well as I should, and that I might benefit from having a little less freedom to force myself to plan better. Sounds counter-productive doesn't it? I know, but I have read that when you are feeling blocked creatively sometimes it's best to reduce your options, give yourself less to work with, and I've noticed that this really works for me. 

I figured I'd give it a try at the very least. I'm committed to working into January and I will do my best to keep up with my regular sketches and whatnot, but I think it's safe to say that you can expect fewer illustrations in the week for the next several months.

A Production Snag:

This past week one of my goals was to set up a clip art product for sale in my Etsy store. I wanted my first product to be the icons I had made for my MATS B children's apparel assignment which should've just needed some tweaking. Turns out that I had underestimated the amount of work needed to get those icons up to a quality standard of product, plus I hit a snag when I was trying to get them into transparent background png format. So that's what I'll be working on this week as well.

And that's the end of another week for me. I only have a few shifts/week at my new job so far but I admit that training has proven to be harder than I expected. Still, I am determined to meet this challenge with positivity and enthusiasm since I see more benefits than disadvantages in doing it. 

This week I have another challenge in getting my family and house ready for Hallowe'en next week (is it really only next week? wow!) plus my youngest is turning 6 next week and I have another doll I want to make for her! Whew, are you exhausted yet? I think I might be very tired by the end of the week :)

I hope you have a great week, be happy, and stay safe my friend!

Until next time,

Mandy

If you'd like to see more of my work or keep up with me day-to-day you can follow me on Instagram or Facebook.

If you're interested in commissioning me, click here to be taken to my Contact page to send me an email or message me from my social media links above, I'd be happy to answer any questions :)

Week of October 10, 2016: A map, a dog, some fall elements, and new art supplies!

Hello again! I don't know about where you are, but the weather here is downright weird. This past weekend we had every conceivable form of weather aside from snow! Frost first thing in the morning, but mid-afternoon temperatures were in the 20's. It was great for getting some much needed yard work done, right up until the rain hit and hasn't stopped yet. When I bring the girls home from school today (in their rain gear) we'll likely be eating popsicles due to the hot afternoon walk. Not what I expect from October, but we all have to adapt don't we?

How was this past week for you? Any excitement? Did you manage to finally check that one item that's been driving you batty off your to-do list? I have! I finally completed my map for MATS B (pause for cheers and applause)!! I also painted a quick sketch of one my Aunt's chihuahua's, a fall items sketch, and tested out my new pearlescent watercolour palette and sepia Sakura pens!

Map of Kitchener-Waterloo:

My completed map for MATS B

I am so relieved with how this map turned out. If you've been following my posts you'll know just how much I struggled with this assignment. It isn't anything like what I expected it to look like though. I do find it very charming, but I had hoped to create something in a more traditional style. I'm hoping to come back to it at some point to see if I can make it the way I had expected to in the first place, now that it's done I have a better idea of what I could try. One thing Lilla Rogers keeps telling us is to try something new, to break out of our rutts and experiment and I feel I most definitely did that with this project, and for that I am very proud of myself!

Little Chihuahua sketch:

Little Bella, a watercolour and ink sketch.

This is taken from a photo my Mom took of one of three of my Aunt's chihuahua's. She is such a sweet little thing, though she is very protective of her "mom"! When I did the sketch my aim was to keep it loose and light, in part to give the impression of all the energy this little bundle of love has! I think it came across very well. I would like to try to sketch up her brother and sister as well. They will each bring their own challenges because one is completely black with short fur, and the other is tan with long, feathery fur!

Some fall elements:

Fall elements collected during a nature walk.

Last weekend, my husband took the girls out for a nature walk out by the University. They took a bag with them to collect their "treasures" (I have abut twenty horse chestnuts lined up on my hutch right now). I thought it would be fun to go through their collection and sketch up a little spread of elements. I really like the way the covered chestnut and the pinecones turned out here.

New Art Supplies:

A quick fall sketch to test out my new pearlesecnt watercolour palette and sepia Sakura pens.

I had an opportunity this week to purchase some new pens and paints and thought I'd try out this set of pearlescent watercolours! The picture doesn't do the painting justice, the metallic sparkle comes through very well with these paints, though the colours are a bit muted. I love the colours in this set, they perfectly match the more "natural" tones I generally move towards. And the Sakura pens!! I've been wanting to try some sepia pens for inking for a little while now, but what's awesome with this set is that it also comes with a brush-tipped pen!! I'm looking forward to playing with both more in the future. One thing I especially want to try with the pearlescent paints is painting on darker coloured card stock! I've been watching a few videos on Youtube and the results are incredible!

Well, there goes another week! My plans this week are pretty simple, I am going to set up my first clip-art product for my Etsy store, I would like to sketch another one of my Aunt's adorable dogs, and I want to try sketching some ghouls and goblins - I haven't decided if they will be playful or creepy, maybe I'll try one of each!

I hope you have a great week, be happy, and stay safe my friend!

Until next time,

Mandy

If you'd like to see more of my work or keep up with me day-to-day you can follow me on Instagram or Facebook.

If you're interested in commissioning me, click here to be taken to my Contact page to send me an email or message me from my social media links above, I'd be happy to answer any questions :)

Week of October 03: Map making, Wild Turkeys, and Abstract Butterflies

Hello! How've you been? Has the week been good to you and yours? For me, this past week has had it's share of ups and downs, nothing too critical, but still... Here in Canada we are celebrating Thanksgiving so there had to be some time spent planning the meal and deciding how we were going to spend our time. This year we had a small celebration planned, with only myself, my hubby and our two girls in attendance - a very intimate gathering! The weather has been a little hectic this week with warmer than normal temperatures. I'm not sure if it was the change in the weather, or some other factor that resulted in my two separate migraines this past week and completely destroying any chance of productive work. Luckily I am not generally prone to migraines, I only seem to get them a few times a year, but they still tend to be a wrench in the gears of my productive day.

I did manage to get a few things moving along. I worked some more on my map, sketched and painting a wild turkey, and started a textural/abstracted butterfly painting!

My Map for MATS B:

Oh this map! I posted what I had completed last week onto a MATS group on Facebook for feedback and got some really good suggestions for improving it. Take a look at it now!

My latest version of the Kitchener-Waterloo map for MATS B. It's coming along!

I think it's coming along nicely. What I want to work on now is some more textural elements in the background and the lettering. Someone suggested that I print out some fonts that I think might work and handletter those to keep the style I've got going on. I found a few tutorials for lettering with text styles that I'd like to try out, they are both from ChrystalElizabeth, one discussing 5 Tips for Brush Lettering, and the other talks abut Three Different Brush Lettering Styles (click the titles to see the posts).

I am not as happy with my progress on this map as I'd like to be. Being ill for two days, plus the extra I needed to put into my family life, put a distinct crimp in my progress. I am very determined to have this completed this week because I have plans for next week that don't involve MATS at all!! I do have one more assignment to finish the course, but I might start that in November.

Wild Turkey Sketch:

We live very near a small forested trail and recently the city put money into naturalizing some of the channel that runs through it. This past year, we've noticed a definite increase in wildlife and wild plants in the area, one of which is a wild turkey that's been seen roaming the neighbourhood. I managed to grab a picture of it on my phone after taking the girls to school one morning and was very excited to sketch and paint it in my sketchbook!

My illustrated wild turkey in pen and watercolour.

It was so much fun to draw and paint! I don't get to sketch many birds and I'd like to do them more often. Hopefully this will be the first of many!!

Watercolour Texture:

Through my Facebook account I frequently get posts from other artist groups or companies, many of whom have free tutorials or information on how to improve your skills. One that I frequently look at is Artists and Illustrators magazine (link goes to their Facebook page), based in the UK. This past week they had a tutorial that inspired me to follow along, it was their Daily Art Challenge: watercolour texture.

My work so far on a textural/abstracted butterfly.

I was in the mood to do something fun and creative and at the time I hadn't had my migraines yet so I knew I had plenty of time to play. This is about as far as I got. I didn't have the recommended japanese tissue paper so I just used what I had available. I don't believe this will take too much more time to complete, but we'll have to wait and see what I have to spare this week. Unfortunately it isn't high on my to-do list and I have to prioritize my time for more critical projects.

Ah the end of another week! I am looking forward to a more productive week and an end to certain projects! It's going to be much cooler here, definitely fall weather, so it's the perfect time to be indoors and working creatively!

Have a great week, be happy, and stay safe my friend!

Until next time,

Mandy

If you'd like to see more of my work or keep up with me day-to-day you can follow me on Instagram or Facebook.

If you're interested in commissioning me, click here to be taken to my Contact page to send me an email or message me from my social media links above, I'd be happy to answer any questions :)

Week of September 26, 2016

Hello my friend, I am happy to see that you made it through another week! It is officially October - where did September go? I don't know about you but I think I could've used at least a few more days before the month ended. This last week of September was more difficult for me than usual. I spent a lot of time struggling with fears and anxiety, a common issue among creatives, or so I've been told. I touched up my logo, was asked to make a logo for another small business, worked on some sketching, and made a huge dent in my map for MATS B! I also did some work enlarging my creative community and learning to grow my business.

Updated logo:

I'd been looking at my logo lately and I realized that I couldn't handle how poorly the image looked from a distance. Even up close the lettering was difficult to read and the pattern of the wreaths were overly distracting. I still adored the colouring and the watercolour background effect, but I needed to make the wreaths fall into the background more and find a way to darken up the letters and make them more visible. Here's the result:

My new logo. I've updated all my social media and stores to this design.

I think this works so much better! Shortly after I posted this on my Facebook page, I got a request from a small business owner to put together her logo too. She makes small (and sometimes large) crocheted dolls and figures and sells them. She already had an avatar that she wanted to stand front and centre, and she wanted her business name in a circle around it in beautiful lettering. This is what I made for her:

Logo I designed for a small hand crochet figure business.

I created the entire thing in Illustrator. She had given me the image of the girl, but I had to draw it out to vectorize and colour it. She also requested that I make an effort to seasonalize it with a Santa hat and bunny ears so that's my next job. So much fun!!

Sketching:

It was a frustrating week for me. Fear and anxiety kept nagging at me and draining my creative energies so I made an effort to keep things fun and light by doing a little sketching to take my mind off things.

Pencil sketch of hair. I can get very zen going into detail like this.

Cute little forest creatures. I had an idea for an illustration that I may still go forward with but I needed some critters first.

I do love to sketch and it frequently takes a backseat with my eagerness to move to the finished piece. Exploring ideas and training the hand and brain are really a lot of fun and frequently quite relaxing, but there's also the guilt of doing something I enjoy instead of something more serious (another typical creative personality trait).

MATS B Map:

With all of the frustration of the week I am quite proud of myself for moving forward with my map! I had a long talk with myself and came to the realization that fear was what was stopping me from moving forward. I've always loved looking at illustrated maps and have been very impressed at what others in my class have been creating, and I had a fear of screwing it up. This was also well outside my comfort zone! I tend to like to illustrate real things, things I can see and touch, in a realistic way. While you can do a map that way, that wasn't what the brief wanted. It specifically said that the map was not to be exact or precise, but a representation of the feel of the location. To me, this meant a much looser style and I struggled with trying to understand how to get my little corner of the world onto paper in this way. 

After my long talk I decided to go ahead with some quick pen sketches of ideas I had had months ago and just see how it went together. This was going to be my first digital piece (because for the life of me I couldn't get it going traditionally). Here's where I left it last week:

My work in progress of a map of Kitchener-Waterloo. 

There's still a fair bit of work to do on it, but I was impressed with how it's looking so far. Enough to keep me working on it this week and get it done!!

Fear and Business Growth:

I've been steadily growing my creative community for the past several weeks by joining several  Facebook groups and following a few more creative business newsletters. At first this was an awesome source of information and support for me, but it didn't take long to be overwhelming. It's wonderful to see all these amazing people and their incredible artwork, and to realize that there are people out there that can help you fulfill your dream of a creative business and creative life, to answer your questions and to help guide you where you want to go. But in a short time I found myself having to quickly skim through images as opposed to reading them thoroughly and commenting to support others. I was finding myself comparing my skill level to others and not measuring up. It can be very difficult, especially at my stage of juggling family priorities with a dream that was late in coming, to not get lost in the ocean of options and lose sight of what I want to do and where I want to go.

So, this week I am going back to limiting my time online (especially Facebook), I still want to be giving support to others and contribute to my community but I will be more selective about how I do that. I am returning to my use of a daily schedule to help me juggle my competing priorities, and I will write out my goal so I can stay on track. I also need to keep in mind how much I've accomplished in the last year. There's always this pressure to be further ahead, to be successful and skilled now regardless of how new you are to the business and I need to remember that I am moving forward every day, that each thing I do is another step up the mountain to achieve my dream.

Well, that's it for this week. If you have any questions about anything I've written today please comment below or contact me via my social media sites and I will be happy to answer them! I hope you have a great week and that you and yours are happy and safe.

Until next week!

Mandy

If you'd like to see more of my work or keep up with me day-to-day you can follow me on Instagram or Facebook.

If you're interested in commissioning me, click here to be taken to my Contact page to send me an email or message me from my social media links above, I'd be happy to answer any questions :)